The present invention relates to automated medical history taking systems and particularly to an audio health history acquisition system wherein questions are presented audibly to a patient.
Heretofore it has been proposed that a medical or health history be taken from patients automatically by devices which include means for automatically processing the answers given by a patient in response to questions presented to him. Such systems would typically include a computer and be in the nature of a data processing system. Typically such history taking devices are utilized in multiphasic health testing systems. One such device presently in use provides for a visual display of the question being asked on a cathode-ray tube with the patient answering the question by depressing one of four buttons adjacent four written answers. These answers are YES, NO, I DON'T KNOW, or REPEAT.
In some instances questions are displayed on a screen through the medium of a carrousel slide projector containing a plurality of slides each slide having a specific question or questions thereon. In other instances, the visual display on a cathode-ray tube is generated directly from and by a computer.
Most of the presently known history-taking devices have a "chain branching capacity" which is activated by the answer given by the patient to a specific question. In this respect if a patient answers a question "YES", he may then be required to answer a plurality of other questions which are not in the direct chain of questions but rather in a branch chain of questions. One illustration of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,891 which utilizes teletype modulation signals on a pre-recorded magnetic tape representing statements corresponding to alternative responses of an individual to questions. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,891, the response of the individual is typed together with the question immediately after the response is given. In addition, most history-taking devices also have the capability of skipping questions that may not be applicable to a particular patient, such as, for example, sex-oriented questions which relate solely to the male sex or the female sex. Thus, once the patient answers "YES" or "NO" to the question "Are you male?", or the question "Are you female?", the history taking device, in response to the answer given, will skip certain questions. Many history-taking devices also include the capability of repeating the visual display of the question. Two examples of medical history-taking systems or devices of the type just described can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,566,365 and 3,566,370.
In many instances, the presently known automated history taking devices have not been effective in obtaining the desired information from a patient. In this respect, it has become apparent that a major drawback or shortcoming encountered with presently available automated history taking devices resides in the fact that many patients are unable to read and/or unable to comprehend the question which is presented to them in a visual manner. Thus, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide another means, specifically an audio means, for audibly presenting questions to a patient.
Although the audio presentation of a question to a subject is known in the field of teaching machines -- see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,950 -- such audio presentation of questions has not been utilized in or suggested for use in automated medical history taking systems. By audibly presenting questions to a patient, the problem of poor reading ability and/or comprehension is overcome. This problem is oftentimes very acute since many people cannot understand the written language. The provision of an audible presentation of questions also permits the utilization of local dialects involved in a particular locale or of different languages whereby the questions used are presented in a dialect or language which can be easily understood and answered by the patient. The need for such a means for audibly presenting questions in an automated medical history acquisition system can be readily appreciated by the fact that those persons who are in most need of medical help are those who are poor, uneducated or members of minority groups who converse in a local dialect or ethnic language.
Another object of the present invention is to permit in an automated medical history acquisition system, the development of a comprehesive questionnaire library on casette type tapes with actual segmentation into various areas.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automated audio health history acquisition system which is adapted to provide a complete health history printed read-out of the questions presented to a particular patient and the answers provided by the patient. The printed read-out will also identify the patient who gave the answers. The printed read-out normally will be effected after the total series of questions and answers has been presented to and received from the patient so that a complete history of the patient's health will be reproduced on one printed record.
A further object of the invention is to provide a system including one or more reduced-scale models of the human body which are viewable by the patient while he is listening to the questions. Certain typical pain or discomfort patterns will be displayed on the models for identification by the patient as to whether he has experienced the same.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an audio health history acquisition system which will permit the generation of a particular history by the user of a system to suit his own requirements. For example, the system may be used in the admitting room of an emergency ward of a hospital for obtaining a short quick medical history from an incoming patient. On the other hand, the system can be used in a doctor's office for obtaining a much longer medical history from patients of the doctor. In this use of the system of the invention, the questions can be recroded on a magnetic tape in the doctor's voice so that the questions will be presented to a patient in a familiar voice. By hearing the questions in a familiar voice, the patient will be at ease and more inclined to answer the questions fully and correctly.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a telephone dial overlay member transforming the telephone dial to a patient response keyboard to enable the taking of a patient's health history from any remote area in which telephone facilities are available.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear to those skilled in the art from the ensuing disclosure and drawings.